“I’ve stepped inside a world I don’t know.“
Sylosis, as a melting pot of metallic influence, are a hard group to pin down, and that’s to their immense benefit; melodic death metal with thrash, progressive, and metalcore influences, their sound is simultaneously technical and incredibly appealing to the breadth of the metal community. The Reading-based quartet has always been the brainchild of guitarist and vocalist Josh Middleton, but with their latest effort, A Sign of Things to Come (co-produced by Middleton and long-term collaborator Scott Atkins), he really seizes the reigns.
Right from the start, “Deadwood” comes out swinging with riffy, high-octane energy that takes me back to the mid-2000s. The record’s lead single, the track immediately makes a mark as the distillation of the group’s sound but with greatly improved vocal performances from Middleton, complete with a clean passage towards the song’s tail end and uncleans that are straight up angry.
More cleans appear dotted throughout the title track, which is a solid outing but one that sits firmly within ‘mid-tempo.’ It’s a rather middling affair, as are the two which follow on, though the soaring solo near the end certainly steals the show. An unnecessary and somewhat egregious fadeout on “Poison for the Lost” additionally kills the momentum and fails to really provide a crescendo to satisfy the tension of the track.
“Descent”, wrapping up the A-side, is the album’s most anthemic effort, sporting a truly infectious guitar solo and a memorable, if a little bombastic, sing-along chorus. The track flies by before grinding into a chunky pseudo-breakdown where the tuning really lets you feel the guitarwork.
Beginning the second half, “Absent” is a true curveball. Middleton croons over a haunting combination of muted percussion and synths. Moody, atmospheric, visceral, it crawls along before exploding into a truly epic wall of noise. “Absent” is grand, it’s classy, and it’s the gem of A Sign of Things to Come. Compared to their previous ballad, “Abandon”, it’s night and day. Traditionally, I have always favoured the more energetic, thrash-infused side of Sylosis – I grew up on Bullet For My Valentine after all – but this delicate and reserved insight into Middleton’s creative mind has made me rethink the direction I want to see from them.
“Eye for an Eye” cranks the energy up again and is, conversely, another stellar effort. Straying into the thrashy metalcore Sylosis made their name on, its clean-tinged chorus backed by thundering drums and rampant guitars lends a theoretically straightforward track great weight. Where “Absent” is a work of pure genius, “Eye for an Eye” is a song you could expect Sylosis to make, and yet it excels due to the individual performances of the members. Everything is impactful, from the heady percussion to Middleton’s ad hoc shift between cleans and uncleans.
The closing trio of “Judas”, “Thorns”, and “A Godless Throne” continues the dark ambience of the record’s back half to great effect. Different textures lend each their own distinct identity, with “Thorns” bearing contrasting acoustic accents and “A Godless Throne” concluding with the record’s longest and most triumphant solo.
A Sign of Things to Come, for me, is a story of two halves: the former, underwhelming, with “Deadwood” and “Descent” as enjoyable, if somewhat unsurprising, highlights, and the latter a superb showcase of the group’s extensive sonic palette. It was certainly crafted with a live setting in mind, for the tracks drip with mosh calls such as “In the age of the narcissist / We speak with a clenched fist” (“Poison for the Lost”). That, ultimately, is where the record sits for me; it’s a mature and well-crafted effort which will undoubtedly see a few songs slip into my playlists, but I see myself rarely revisiting it in full. The single-laden first half lacks a sense of ‘journey’ and unfortunately fails to inspire in me, personally, the emotions the ferocious lines reach for.
With Middleton’s recent departure from Architects and this latest iteration of Sylosis (particularly with the dropped tuning), he makes his enduring love for the heavier side of metal known. Clocking in at 43 minutes, A Sign of Things to Come is Sylosis’ shortest offering to date and a surprisingly economical effort for the group, though it still could have been trimmed to be properly excellent. The progressive elements have been dialled back save for a few solos and the record operates on a delicate balance of ferocity and melody. Once again, their sound can only be summed up as ‘Sylosis.’
8/10
A Sign of Things to Come releases tomorrow, September 8th, via Nuclear Blast, and you can pre-order it here.